The Devout and the Dead: a guide to Clerics

[Yorrin]

I guess that makes Dragon the best choice for sub-class?

Dragon is indeed the default choice, mostly for the bonus HP. Storm is a decent option for Tempestuous Magic, so I'd at least read it to see if you like that better. But Chaos is just bad, especially as a dip.

[RulesJD]

Dragon is indeed the default choice, mostly for the bonus HP. Storm is a decent option for Tempestuous Magic, so I'd at least read it to see if you like that better. But Chaos is just bad, especially as a dip.

Couldn't be more wrong...depending on Cleric you want to make.

Wild Magic gives you far, far more than any other Sorc dip (for 1-3), primarily in the form of Tides of Chaos. Being able to generate advantage for almost anything is huge. Initiative, saves, etc.

More importantly, the majority of the Surges are beneficial. This is especially true if you're in melee with the enemy.

The little bit of extra HP isn't really worth it when you can instead gain Advantage 2-3 times per combat.

[Yorrin]

Couldn't be more wrong...depending on Cleric you want to make.

Wild Magic gives you far, far more than any other Sorc dip (for 1-3), primarily in the form of Tides of Chaos. Being able to generate advantage for almost anything is huge. Initiative, saves, etc.

More importantly, the majority of the Surges are beneficial. This is especially true if you're in melee with the enemy.

The little bit of extra HP isn't really worth it when you can instead gain Advantage 2-3 times per combat.

This is where I'm going to disagree flat out. Chaos magic is bad because of Wild Surge. Period. It doesn't matter that 80% of them are beneficial or neutral (made up number, I haven't actually done the math), the fact is that there's a substantial chance of casting fireball on yourself or temporarily losing the ability to speak (and thus no verbal components) or turning into a potted plant or sheep. The benefits of chaos magic aren't worth the risk of crippling yourself in a crucial situation.

That being said, lets not derail this thread with such a discussion. If you feel the need to hash it out further we can start a new thread.

[Flashy]

Plus, staying pure Clr for a bit gets me the Read Thoughts ability at 6 to play around with, which I'm at least intrigued by - maybe not salivating over or anything but I can see uses for it.

Having played a knowledge cleric into the mid levels, Read Thoughts is at minimum two castings of Suggestion per short rest. It's honestly really good, even in less intrigue centric campaigns. Personally I'd encourage sticking with the class until at least 7th level, simply because the 4th level Cleric spells include some real gems (Banishment, Death Ward, Guardian of Faith, Freedom of Movement). It does sort of start to slow down around there though.

[rhombism]

This is where I'm going to disagree flat out. Chaos magic is bad because of Wild Surge. Period. It doesn't matter that 80% of them are beneficial or neutral (made up number, I haven't actually done the math), the fact is that there's a substantial chance of casting fireball on yourself or temporarily losing the ability to speak (and thus no verbal components) or turning into a potted plant or sheep. The benefits of chaos magic aren't worth the risk of crippling yourself in a crucial situation.

I won't belabor this point, however, it should be pointed out that a thrown potted plant can do up to 2d8 damage (depending on the type of plant), and several types of demons and most undead are terrified of sheep.

[RulesJD]

I won't belabor this point, however, it should be pointed out that a thrown potted plant can do up to 2d8 damage (depending on the type of plant), and several types of demons and most undead are terrified of sheep.

I gotta ask....what?

If that is some bit of lore I wasn't aware of, it makes season three's premise in Adventurer's League way, way cooler.

[Blue Wizrobe]

I don't want to drag Wild Magic through the mud, either, and having played in a different game with one for a while now, I can see that they're powerful and have lots of good stuff. There's just something kinda counter-intuitive to me about a character conceptualized as a Controller with that amount of power over which they have no really reliable control. Not saying it's a bad concept or that it wouldn't work - just doesn't work for me.

As for the MC dip, I think I've talked myself into waiting until 10th character level at the earliest, going full Clr for the front 9. Lots of really good stuff in the 4th and 5th spell level lists.

[uraniumrooster]

First of all, excellent guide. Thank you for writing it!

Now, apologies if I'm re-hashing a point that has already come up, I haven't read through all the previous pages, but I think you're under-rating a couple of the Arcana Domain abilities.

Spellbreaker - I'd give this at least a Dark Blue, possibly Sky Blue if the DM likes to throw a lot of spellcasting enemies at the party. Having your healing spells double as Dispel Magic is amazing (even without the option to make an ability check against higher level spells, so you have to up-cast, it's still very useful). It adds utility to your healing spells and makes combat healing actually worthwhile. I guess it is technically somewhat campaign dependent, but I think it's pretty rare for a campaign to go above 6th level without facing at least a few monsters with spellcasting abilities, and even getting one solid use from this ability every other session pays off. Fighter fails a save against Hold Person? Bonus Action a 2nd-level Healing Word for a little bit of combat healing, end the paralysis, and still have your action available to use an attack cantrip (empowered by Potent Spellcasting at 8th).

Arcane Mastery - Sky Blue all the way, and easily the best Cleric capstone IMO. Pretty much all the best high level spells that aren't already on the Cleric list are on the Wizard list. Getting to poach one spell each from the Wizard's 6th-9th level spells as Domain spells... it's just crazy good. It gives Arcana clerics spell versatility approaching the level of Lore Bards. I'd take it over Stormborn any day.

I think Arcana Cleric is the best pure-wis, spell-focused cleric option, which is very appropriate given the domain's flavor. All of the abilities (with the exception of Arcane Abjuration) also have amazing synergy and just work well together as a cohesive archetype, which is unfortunately not true of some of the other domains *cough*Trickery*cough*.

[RulesJD]

I don't want to drag Wild Magic through the mud, either, and having played in a different game with one for a while now, I can see that they're powerful and have lots of good stuff. There's just something kinda counter-intuitive to me about a character conceptualized as a Controller with that amount of power over which they have no really reliable control. Not saying it's a bad concept or that it wouldn't work - just doesn't work for me.

As for the MC dip, I think I've talked myself into waiting until 10th character level at the earliest, going full Clr for the front 9. Lots of really good stuff in the 4th and 5th spell level lists.

In that case, Storm Sorc is still better than Draconic. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Draconic Sorcs if only for the free Mage Armor + ability to get Resistance to an elemental form for (relatively) cheap. It's just that 1-3 level dips as a Cleric you get practically nothing from Draconic because you already have Armor proficiencies. The REALLY good Draconic sorc abilities don't come online until Sorc level 6, which is a pretty deep dip.

With Storm Sorc you at least get a free disengage/no AoO if you're Restrained/Grappled etc.

[Yorrin]

First of all, excellent guide. Thank you for writing it!

Thanks!

Spellbreaker

The reason that this one isn't rated higher is the simple fact that not every campaign will have much use for it. Low-magic is totally a thing in 5e, and I've played in entire campaigns where there was only one spellcasting enemy. When it comes up it's solid, but it's not something that comes up often enough in my experience to rate higher.

Arcane Mastery

It's a great capstone for sure, and I am indeed considering raising it up to Sky Blue. Part of the problem stems from the fact that while you get access to great new spells, you don't actually get any more spell slots from which to cast them, making it in some senses compete with your existing spell list. That being said, it's not much competition since Wizards get better high level spells than Clerics for the most part.

I'd love to hear some other opinions on this one, actually. Should Arcane Mastery move up to Sky Blue? Why or why not? I'm honestly on the fence about it.

In that case, Storm Sorc is still better than Draconic

As a pure Sorc I'd pick Draconinc every time, personally, but for a Cleric dip I'd call them about equal. Or rather, somewhat playstyle dependent. Some players prefer face-tanking, whereas some prefer mobility. Also the bonus to diplomacy with dragons might come up in some campaigns. But the free mage armor is lost on characters with Medium or Heavy armor. Ultimately, though, it's not a huge difference and neither choice will wreck a build.

[Flashy]

I'd love to hear some other opinions on this one, actually. Should Arcane Mastery move up to Sky Blue? Why or why not? I'm honestly on the fence about it.

I'll argue that it should be sky blue, simply because I think it corrects one of the few real problems with the Cleric chassis - the weirdly generic high level spell list. Clerics get four 8th level spells normally; Antimagic Field, Control Weather, Earthquake, and Holy Aura. They're highly thematic for a classic war/life (and maybe tempest) Cleric, but they eliminate much of the flavor of the other domains and leave you with effectively no real flexibility. You can knock over cities and mess with undead/outsiders, but there's really nothing you can do in any other scenario. Stealing a spell from the wizard list lets you add options like Dominate Monster, Feeblemind, Maze, Telepathy, Sunburst, etc for radically improved flexibility, while a nature cleric stops gaining regular nature features.

Basically, every kind of Cleric except arcana finds themselves with a weird, sort of generic buffy/healy/no-likey-undead spell list as soon as the new domain spells go away. Arcana extends the flavor and flexibility of the domain list through into the later cleric levels.

[rhombism]

I'd love to hear some other opinions on this one, actually. Should Arcane Mastery move up to Sky Blue? Why or why not? I'm honestly on the fence about it.

I haven't played Arcana yet, but I would tend to agree that the high level cleric gets a little stale, and while they've done a lot to spice up lower level cleric abilities, as capstones for high levels Tempest and Arcana provide a ton of benefit.

Just looking at the other Domain features that you rated light blue:

Arcane Initiate - 2 cantrips and proficiency with arcana.
Knowledge of the Ages - extreme versatility but you just get proficiency in a skill for 10 minutes
Stormborn - you can fly!

In comparison to these, the ability to grab four non-domain spells would allow you to substantially change the way that your character is able to interact with the world, just at a time, theoretically, that you would need to really step up your game. It gives you better versatility than Arcane Initiate in bringing a whole new realm of spells from different magic families at the highest levels of magic use.

I think it's more light blue than Arcane Initiate or Knowledge of the Ages, but probably less light blue than Stormborn, cause flying is awesome.

[ZenBear]

Just want to point out that you didn't include Heavily Armored in your Feat section which can allow a STR build for those that lack the option. Death and Trickery Clerics can take it at level 1 if they're VHuman or get by with medium armor/shield for AC equal to that of a typical light armor/DEX build until 4th.

[Yorrin]

Just want to point out that you didn't include Heavily Armored in your Feat section which can allow a STR build for those that lack the option. Death and Trickery Clerics can take it at level 1 if they're VHuman or get by with medium armor/shield for AC equal to that of a typical light armor/DEX build until 4th.

...
That... is a good point. How did I miss that?

[BucketHead87]

While the general idea seems functional, it's always worth to note that as of the errata, unarmed strike is not a weapon and thus booming blade doesn't work with unarmed strike. Now, obviously if you just prefer to use a monk weapon anyway, this won't be a problem.

That was the idea, yeah. There's no reason not to use a monk weapon such as a spear or quarterstaff for the 1d8 damage and wear my holy symbol as an amulet. If my DM requires me to have a hand free to use said holy symbol, well I'm only losing on average 1 point of damage when I cast spells.

[inkcharm]

Hey,

DnD newbie here, and I'm hoping you guys might be able to give me some advice? I'm currently cobbling together my character for a small game - DM + 3 players. We're getting a high elf wizard, halfling rogue, and I have my eyes set on a sadly somewhat inefficient character concept. But I love her, so I'm rolling her. I'm hoping you guys can help me make the best out of a very much not optimal starting point, basically.

So I'm going with a blue dragonborn tempest cleric, and it looks like we'll either get the standard set of stats (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) or point buy. With the standard set I'm currently looking at the following spread:
STR 15 (13+2)
CON 14
DEX 12
INT 8
WIS 15
CHA 11 (10+1)
She's not very book-smart, as you can see.
She'll definitely front line with a shield and versatile warhammer, I think - given that, does this stat spread make any sort of sense, or should I rethink something?

My currently level up plan would feature +1 Wis +1 Str on 4, War Caster on 8, +2 Wis on 12 and +2 Wis on 16. Should I max out Wis first and leave War Caster for later? I do apologize in advance for these question, I'm sure they might look slightly dumb.

Bottom Line: I know other races would probably serve me better, but I reallyreally like the concept of a sailor-turned-pirate-turned-Bahamut-Tempest-cleric trying to prove herself beyond past deeds and the color of her scales. Am I still on a decent enough track with her, or is there any advice you guys can give me for her?

[Yorrin]

blue dragonborn tempest cleric

Third string Cleric race aside you've got a pretty solid build and a good leveling plan. Very thematic, and I anticipate it will be quite playable 1-20. Obviously you're looking at Heavy Armor with this spread, which will eventually net you 20 AC before enchanted gear once you nab Full Plate, which is always nice.

[Arkhios]

STR 15 (13+2)
CON 14
DEX 12
INT 8
WIS 15
CHA 11 (10+1)

My currently level up plan would feature +1 Wis +1 Str on 4, War Caster on 8, +2 Wis on 12 and +2 Wis on 16. Should I max out Wis first and leave War Caster for later? I do apologize in advance for these question, I'm sure they might look slightly dumb.

I'm personally a big fan of colourful (no pun intended, or was there ?) concepts over mechanical cheese, so I salute your conviction for the build!
From mechanical stand-point, the above stat-spread seems quite alright.

However, with point-buy, I might drop dexterity from 12 to 10, and increase strength from 13 to 14 (before racial bump), leaving you at as follows:
STR 16 (14+2)
CON 14
DEX 10
INT 8
WIS 15
CHA 11 (10+1)
At 4th level change the ASI to +1 Wis and +1 Cha (uneven ability scores bug me quite a bit; it's like you're half-way there, but still not there. Full bonuses are better than no bonuses at all).

Wisdom 16 is going to be just fine until lvl 12, so you can pick War Caster at 8 with ease. Since Tempest cleric is a bit more on the blasty-side of domains, you're on the right path to increase wisdom to 20 eventually. At 19th level you could increase strength to 18.

[inkcharm]

Third string Cleric race aside you've got a pretty solid build and a good leveling plan. Very thematic, and I anticipate it will be quite playable 1-20. Obviously you're looking at Heavy Armor with this spread, which will eventually net you 20 AC before enchanted gear once you nab Full Plate, which is always nice.

Thank you!

Yeah, the little optimizer in me would like something better suited for the stats, but I'm afraid that voice is getting drowned out by the cool character concept voice. And I'm definitely going Heavy Armor + Shield. Starting with that AC is a rush after my rogue's AC-squish.

I'm personally a big fan of colourful (no pun intended, or was there ?) concepts over mechanical cheese, so I salute your conviction for the build!
From mechanical stand-point, the above stat-spread seems quite alright.

However, with point-buy, I might drop dexterity from 12 to 10, and increase strength from 13 to 14 (before racial bump), leaving you at as follows:
[...]
At 4th level change the ASI to +1 Wis and +1 Cha (uneven ability scores bug me quite a bit; it's like you're half-way there, but still not there. Full bonuses are better than no bonuses at all).

Thanks for the advice, and of course for the pun. And I'm glad to hear that there are more people out there who favor a cool concept over the most ideal numbers. High Five!

I'm wondering how that +1 in CHA compares to the +1 in Dex in gameplay, or rather if it's worth the tradeoff of losing +1 Dex in favor of getting +1 Cha. Of course, the point would allow me to get 16 Strength right out of the gate instead of at level 4, which in turn would be neat especially at earlier levels where I'd rather use spell slots for buffs (Bless looks so good, and we're a party of 3 anyway) and hammer people in the face for damage...

[dimonic]

A feat I am considering is "Observant". It may not be that powerful (+5 to passive perception), albeit that is the most important skill in the game, but a +1 Wis makes up for the lack of oomph in my view. Variant Humans can then get +2 Wis at 1st level. What's not to like? My Sailor background Tempest Cleric rocks with Observant giving him Str 16, Con 14 and Wis 15 at first level. If I was willing to dump both dex and int, I could have Str 16, Con 14 and Wis 16.

Also, under equipment, you omit Javelins. For Strength based clerics, these are probably the best low level (and cheap) ranged weapon you can get.

[Yorrin]

A feat I am considering is "Observant". It may not be that powerful (+5 to passive perception), albeit that is the most important skill in the game, but a +1 Wis makes up for the lack of oomph in my view. Variant Humans can then get +2 Wis at 1st level. What's not to like? My Sailor background Tempest Cleric rocks with Observant giving him Str 16, Con 14 and Wis 15 at first level. If I was willing to dump both dex and int, I could have Str 16, Con 14 and Wis 16.

Sounds like you've got a good thing going. That's a solid set of first level stats.

Also, under equipment, you omit Javelins. For Strength based clerics, these are probably the best low level (and cheap) ranged weapon you can get.

You're right that I should include them. As I recall the initial omission was because I assumed that cantrips would be used for ranged options.

[GorogIrongut]

Thanks!

Sounds like a fun character. I too am somewhat addicted to Dwarves. Such a great culture and in every game they show up in they tend to have pretty solid stats.

As for your build, it's a pretty solid hybrid between the two classes. You've got a gluttony of offensive options, so I wouldn't worry about trying to acquire too many new ones (ie- don't worry about Shocking Grasp when you've got martial weapon proficiency and twinned Chill Touch). On the off chance you make it all the way to level 20 dropping a level of Fighter for one more of Cleric could pick you up 8th level spells at the cost of an ASI/feat, which I find advisable. But it seems like you've got a solid idea overall.

We've been working out the gaming group and the world and we're soon to start. The party comprises:
My axe wielding dwarven gish cleric
Wood Elven Moon Druid
Another dwarven Shadow Monk Assassin
Feral Tiefling (w/ wings) Paladin/Warlock

We're all varying levels of neutral.

The thing I wasn't expecting is how much water is going to enter into the game. While there are two large land masses, a lot of the play looks to occur between the two. As a heavy armour wearing, not very swimmy dwarf, I've got to be honest and tell you that this makes me uncomfortable. For a while I was torn between Mold Earth and Minor Illusion as my 2nd EK Cantrip. With the inclusion of water being such a big feature, now I'm tempted to make it shape water... So at the very least, if the ship I'm on goes down, I can make a little ice island and propel it (slowly) towards land. I'll also probably run two sets of armour... so that when around water I can slip out of it more readily (armour is less of an issue as when we were sitting down to roll hp, I got ridiculously good rolls. Start with 10 - 3d10 = 10, 10, 4 - d8 = 8. My level 5 has 62 hit points... *kind of feels like a barbarian*).


Other thoughts I've had since... I initially agreed with dropping EK down to 7 so as to gain access to higher level cleric spells. But now I'm not so sure... Those would only come online at level 20... which this character probably won't get around to. It would also stop me from getting that extra ASI... It would also prevent me from getting at level 8, one of my non abj/evo wizard spells. That's stopping me from getting Invisibility... Mirror Image... Misty Step... I still remain up in the air about it. Plus I've been thinking of taking Ritual Caster.... (and Resilient Dex)... That ASI could be quite useful in helping me to get spells like Identify/Detect Magic/Tiny Hut, etc. That or it could get me proficiency in dex... Which considering I already have proficiency in Con and Wisdom... this finishes off the big 3.

So yeah... I'm still up in the air. If you guys have any advice on how my character can cope with a partial seafaring adventure, I'm all ears. I'm also open to advice on how to compensate for what I view as my major weakness... lack of speed compared to the others.

Thanks again in advance.

[Yorrin]

The thing I wasn't expecting is how much water is going to enter into the game. While there are two large land masses, a lot of the play looks to occur between the two.

I just got a hilarious mental image of a Dwarf in full armor with a bunch of balloons attached to make a sort of scuba diving BCD. But I think your Shape Water idea is a lot better.

[TheNecrocomicon]

So I'm a first-time D&D player and joined a group of veterans as they ditched 4e and moved on to their new 5e campaign. I'm playing a Neutral Good Hill Dwarf Light Domain Cleric, while the rest of the party consists of a Warforged NG paladin, Half-Orc Life Domain CG cleric, Gnome LG rogue (the leader), Dragonborn barbarian, half-Elf bard and a Tiefling warlock. We're now in the middle of the second episode of Hoard of the Dragon Queen (*shudders*).

At character creation we all did point buys and I went 15, 14, 12, 11, 10, 10 so I would at least not have any negative modifiers. Putting them into stats, I went for a blend of capability and survivability as follows:

STR = 12
DEX = 10 (a mistake, I think, as I'll elaborate)
INT = 11
CON = 16 (14 base + 2 racial)
WIS = 16 (15 base + 1 racial)
CHA = 10

Now that makes him pretty solid at spellcasting, a healthy amount of HP (23 maximum as of right now at 2nd level) and even pretty handy with his warhammer in combat. I got Insight and Religion skills automatically from the Acolyte background and picked Medicine and History from the three that were left from the Cleric class rules. I took Guidance, Mending and Sacred Flame as cantrips with Light as a domain bonus. The DM let me put my holy symbol on my shield to save hand space, and he'll even let me access Sunbeam and Sunburst as a house rule for Light Domain, assuming I can get the Cleric to survive until the levels necessary to actually use them. I particularly enjoyed the rest of the party's reactions a session or two ago when I got to wipe out a cluster of a half-dozen cultists with Radiance of the Dawn.

On the other hand, despite scale mail and a shield combining for 16 AC, the second highest in the party after the Warforged paladin, my Cleric does abysmally badly on Stealth checks which seem to come up all the damn time. Thankfully straight DEX checks themselves don't come up much, and I do pretty well for Perception and WIS checks, but it sucks when I'm nervous to even approach critical objectives with the rest of the party for fear of bringing the horde down upon their collective heads.

Any suggestions for progress or building this guy? Should I bother with feats at all (e.g. War Caster may be no use thanks to symbol-on-shield), or just stat-up WIS, CON and maybe STR or DEX? Should I focus on saving up for armour that won't impose disadvantage on my Stealth checks? I don't personally want to multiclass or go in particularly wacky directions, but are there ways of counteracting weaknesses as he levels over time?

[Yorrin]

Neutral Good Hill Dwarf Light Domain Cleric

Warcaster still has a bunch of benefits even for a symbol-on-shield type, so it's at least worth looking at. Resilient (Con) will help with saves to maintain Concentration, which will be more important as you level. Other than those two I'd max out Wis/Con and if you get high enough level toss a couple points in Dex.

[Solovar]

I was watching a group playing on twitch which they had a cleric of level 6. A player had died and the cleric player had used his revivify spell. a few people had asked if he had the materials to do that, which requires a diamond. After a while, he responded saying that the cleric class does not require any materials as long as he has a holy symbol and said to look into spell casting.

I have looked and found nothing as such. Can someone give me the heads up about not needing any mats please?

[Ace Jackson]

I was watching a group playing on twitch which they had a cleric of level 6. A player had died and the cleric player had used his revivify spell. a few people had asked if he had the materials to do that, which requires a diamond. After a while, he responded saying that the cleric class does not require any materials as long as he has a holy symbol and said to look into spell casting.

I have looked and found nothing as such. Can someone give me the heads up about not needing any mats please?

His holy symbol is a spell casting focus and may be used in place of materials, just like any wizard's wand, other arcane focus, or alternatively a material pouch, note that the rules for focuses only apply to components without a cost, if a cost is listed, and I'm almost sure there is a cost listed for revivify, then the symbol cannot be used in place of the materials.

Edit: Page 203 talks about it, though I would be mindful about throwing stones in glass houses, it's not your game and you don't have a character getting short sold, still, I don't watch the stream anyway, so it is none of my business either anyhow.

[Leukos]

Hiya! First off, thanks for such a wonderful guide. I come from a pathfinder background but my group is starting a 5e campaign this weekend and I wanted some input. My party starts off at level 3 and consists of a brawler barbarian, melee eldritch knight, valor ranged bard, and a friend who is undecided between a ranged rogue or ranger. Outside of combat, our bard serves as party face while our rogue/ranger will probably be our scout/tracker.

This leads me to my character: I'm leaning towards a melee Life Cleric (V. Human or Dwarf at this point - realistically going V. Human) because the idea of using my channel divinity to heal to conserve spell slots on would-be heals in order to use my spell slots on buffs or utility spells is very appealing to me. That said, there is a lot of hype surrounding the SCAG cantrips and it's making me second-guess my class priorities. As a Life domain cleric, just how important would it be to pick up Magic Initiate via Human to have BB or GFB's damage stack on top of Divine Strike? Should I give Arcane a second look and try the wisdom build; any hurdles for making it work for someone not too accustomed to 5e? How does Potent Cantrips measure up to Divine Strike's scaling in this situation when making a gish via those cantrips? How soon should I get War Caster if I'm looking to be using Bless or Hold Person frequently while wading into combat?

Thank you so much for this guide, I just knew I had to make an account after reading it.

[Yorrin]

Hiya! First off, thanks for such a wonderful guide.

Thanks! Glad it could be of use!

As a Life domain cleric, just how important would it be to pick up Magic Initiate via Human to have BB or GFB's damage stack on top of Divine Strike?

SCAG cantrips are nice but not at all necessary, at least not until you hit much higher levels. The earliest I would consider them would be level 12, by which point you should have a feel for the system.

Should I give Arcane a second look and try the wisdom build; any hurdles for making it work for someone not too accustomed to 5e?

If you do go Arcane, on the other hand, definitely pick them up. This is a situation where I would advise V.Human to pick up Shillelagh right away, as the synergy is just too good to pass up. Once you've got the build set up it's pretty straight-forward. Shillelagh on your staff/clud the first turn with your bonus action and use the SCAG melee cantrip of your choice with your action. Or sit back and sling spells like a regular caster. The choice is yours, and can vary round to round as the situation dictates, which is true of most Cleric builds.

How does Potent Cantrips measure up to Divine Strike's scaling in this situation when making a gish via those cantrips?

+Wis (max +5) vs +2d8 comes out slightly in favor of divine strike, but with Arcana Domain you're SAD instead of MAD, which basically makes it a wash in my opinion.

How soon should I get War Caster if I'm looking to be using Bless or Hold Person frequently while wading into combat?

It should be the first feat you pick up, given the playstlye you're interested in. Whether that means raising your stats first is up to you, and can depend on how good your starting stats are.

Long story short, they're both good builds. Life is going to be more focused on traditional Cleric things, like buffing and healing, whereas Arcana is probably going to be putting out more damage at low levels and have access to Wizard utility. Both builds are great, with tons of versatility. And will fit your party just great.

[Leukos]

Thanks for the quick response! One last question though: Potent Spellcasting has no interaction with GFB and Shillelagh does it?